Why China is holding military drills around Taiwan — and the history behind it

China's decision to bring serious firepower to bear for military drills in the waters off Taiwan this week has deep roots — both in the past several weeks and the past several decades. That means any notion, even in passing, that Taiwan is its own nation is expressly forbidden — even when it comes to maps and graphics (China often bristles when they refer to Taiwan as a “country”) and Taiwan's Olympic team (which is allowed to compete only using the name “Chinese Taipei"). “This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.